Organization news and notes

It has been 10 years since Tony Heath left La Marque as an assistant coach to accept his first head coaching job. Many thought he was crazy for accepting one of the worst football programs in the state and many told him so.

Joining him on this crazy journey were fellow assistant coaches Eric Wells [offensive coordinator] and Mike Rinehart [defensive coordinator]. Pearland assistant Ryan Silvertooth played for La Marque's 1995 state championship team. Add Mark Knipes [new defensive coordinator] as an assistant last season and you have five coaches, with La Marque ties, who accepted the challenge of seeing one of the greatest turnarounds in Texas football history.
Heath has other varsity coaches who also joined him on the crazy dream including Doug Hagar, Mike Norman, Jerry Killen, Mike Allison, Brandon Kinsey, Scott Glasgow, Jeremy Beeson, and James Farmer. All have been together from the beginning except Farmer who was moved up to the varsity this season. Rinehart retired after the 2005 season, but still teaches at PHS.

While the names on the roster have changed from year-to-year, the Pearland coaching staff has stayed together for one of the most remarkable football stories ever told in Texas folklore.

The game between Pearland and La Marque was another crowning moment of the 10-year journey.

"You can take the 5A and 4A classifications away when you put both of these teams on the same field," Heath said prior to the game. "La Marque plays at a different level than most 4A teams and they came into our game with wins over two 5A teams in Ball High (27-14) and La Porte (28-21)."

La Marque charged on the field at The Rig ranked No. 1 in the Houston area and No. 7 in the state. The Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the state all season in 2005 until they lost a close game to Brenham in the state quarterfinals to finish 12-1 overall.

The Oilers had something to prove as well as they have only lost two games at The Rig since moving into the new facility in 2001. Both of those losses came against North Shore in the regular season (2003) and the playoffs (2004). Pearland is 26-2 at home since 2001.

It didn't take long for the Oilers to make a statement as the defense held La Marque to three plays that netted minus-eight yards to force a punt.

Quarterback Sam Proctor and running back Fozzy Whittaker shared the running duties on the opening drive for Pearland. The nine-play, 64-yard drive ended with James Williford smashing into the end zone on a one-yard plunge for the score. Robbie Hersh added the extra point and the Oilers were ahead 7-0 with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter. Proctor carried two times for 18 yards and Whittaker racked up 43 yards on six totes.

Both teams traded punts before La Marque took the ball from their own 16 to the Pearland 12. On third-and-two, quarterback Durkelyn Haynes rolled to his left and lofted a pass to 6-5 wide receiver Joseph Florence, but junior defensive back Nicholas Saenz battled the much taller receiver for the ball for the first of three interceptions giving the Oilers the ball at their 20 on the touch back.

Pearland cashed in on the turnover with a six-play, 80-yard scoring march capped off by a seven-yard run by Whittaker. Hersh hit the extra point giving the Oilers a 14-0 lead with 7:43 remaining in the second period. The drive was aided by two personal fouls by the Cougars. Proctor had two runs of 20 and 6 yards while Whittaker added three runs totaling 24 yards and the score.

It didn't take La Marque long to answer as Haynes scored on a one-yard sneak with 4:42 left before intermission. The short 63-yard drive was sparked by a 45 yard dash by Markus Frank who could have scored, but decided to play around and was smashed to the ground by Saenz on the one-yard line.
With 1:20 remaining before halftime, La Marque took advantage of a partially blocked Pearland punt taking control of the ball on the Oilers' 41.

The Cougars scored six plays later when Haynes hooked up with Florence for a 17-yard scoring toss. The extra point was good and both teams went into the dressing room with the score knotted at 14-14.

The second half belonged to the Oilers' defense as Saenz came up with two more interceptions while sophomore free safety Jarrad Stewart picked off another misguided aerial. Stewart also recovered a fumble.

On La Marque's second possession of the second half, Stewart recovered a loose ball at the La Marque 40. Proctor ripped off a remarkable 28-yard scoring run that saw the signal-caller break two tackles and outrun the speedy Cougars for the touchdown. Hersh booted the extra point giving the Oilers a 21-14 lead with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Stewart came up with the back-breaking interception with 7:54 left in the game to give the Oilers the ball at their own 32.

Proctor and Whittaker shared running duties that took 6:03 off the game clock. On fourth-and-two from the La Marque four-yard line, Hersh calmly drilled a 21-yard field goal with 1:57 left in the game giving the Oilers a 24-14 lead.

La Marque went to the air, but Saenz battled Florence for the ball and came away with his third interception of the game to seal the victory to the thrill of thousands of Pearlanders who packed out the home side of The Rig. Saenz had a second pick on the Cougars' first possession of the second half to kill a drive.

"I can't say enough about the defense," Heath said. "Nic and Jarrad came up with some big time plays. We tell our players that big time players come up with big time plays in big time games and this was one of the biggest games we have played in our 10 years at Pearland. We had a bunch of others who stepped up against a very athletic and talented team. La Marque is well coached and there was a lot of talent on both sides of the ball."

Proctor finished with 144 yards on 17 carries and one score. He now has 528 yards on the season with nine touchdowns to lead the league in rushing and the Houston area in scoring. Whittaker had 128 yards rushing on 24 totes and one score. The speedster now has 382 yards after four games. Whittaker missed the a game-and-a-half due to a high ankle sprain, but looks to be fully recovered to begin district action.

As a team, Pearland had 18 first downs while the defense limited La Marque to 10.

The Oilers look to defend their District 24-5A crown as they host the Clear Lake Falcons on Friday, September 29 at The Rig at 7:00 p.m. in the district opener for both teams. It is also Homecoming for the Oilers who look to improve to 5-0.

The win for Pearland moved them up to No. 10 in the state rankings and No. 4 in the 5A rankings in the Houston area.